Salford Council have this morning outlined plans to save £15.8m over the next financial year which will include the loss of 133 jobs.
The plan is part of £186 million of savings the council has been forced to make since 2010, with an overall 47.4% reduction in government funding.
The proposals have been published today so that residents, businesses and organisations can have a say. This follows a wide-ranging conversation about priorities by the council, in which nearly 600 people took part.
City Mayor Paul Dennett said “Residents are being hit hard by the impact of government cuts with the council severely restricted in how much we can respond to increasing demands on our services. We are focusing on protecting the areas that matter the most to local people, but ultimately there is no hiding from some of the impact that Tory cuts will make.
“We’re now sharing our budget proposals so people can tell us their views as part of an ongoing conversation. Decisions on savings proposals are becoming more difficult every year with no sign of this ending – so it’s vital that we listen to what people think.
“Salford City Council has had to look differently at how to do more with less. We have looked at new ways to provide services, use technology differently and take a more collaborative approach with other organisations. This has gone some way to help provide savings that balance our books or the picture would be much worse.
“In order to minimise the impact on frontline services the council has undertaken a review of all centrally held funds to support the budget.”
Salford City Council’s workforce will be reduced by a further 133 posts as part of the proposed savings for 2017/18. Solutions for 109 of those posts affected have already been identified, either through using/holding existing vacancies for those staff affected or through the release of those staff who have applied for voluntary early retirement/redundancy. The council expects to find solutions for the remainder given its successful record of avoiding compulsory redundancies through internal redeployment and voluntary means.
